Check-marker.



PATENTBD MAY 1,

7 L.'SMITH.' CHECK MARKER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAYl y L. SMITH.

CHECK MARKER. APPLIGATION'IILED AUG. 12, 1904.

2 sums-5mm 2.

cnrrnn snags parse orrron.

LOUIS SMITH, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB or ONE-HALF To CHARLES A.AMBRUSTER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CHECK-MARKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. May 1, 1906.

Application filed August 12, 1904. Serial No. 220,529.

To :(tZZ whom it may concern/.-

' Beit knownthat I,LoUIs SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residingat Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Check-Markers and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in devicesfor preventing the fraudulent raising of checks, drafts,

and like documents, and more especiallyto that class of devicesembodying a plurality of character-disks or wheels located side by sideand independently rotatable on a common shaft and provided on theirperipheries with a plurality of number and character types which aredesigned to be severally brought to a common printing-line byindependent rotation of the disks on their axes,

against which the check orother document.

to be marked is pressed by a suitable platen to imprint the set-upcombination of numbers or characters on the check or the like. Among theobjects of my invention is to simplify the construction of devices ofthis character and to facilitate the operation of rotating theprinting-wheels to bring the characters thereof to the printingdine.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, with parts broken away,of a checkinvention. taken on line '2 2 ofFig. 1.

marking device made in accordance with my Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionFig. 3 is a side elevation with parts removed to' show themteriorconstruction and with other parts shown in'section. Fig. 4 is atransverse vertical section taken on line 4 4- of Fig. 3.

As shownin the drawings, A designates the supporting-based the dcvice,whichis integrally formed with an upwardly-curved shank A, which latterterminates at its up- 'per end in a guide-head A for theverticallyreciprocating plunge'r' of a platen hereinafter tobe'described. The-curved shank A thinner.

is made sufficiently wide to constitute the back wall of a chamberformed to receive the printing-wheels, of which chamber B B designatethe side walls or plates, C the front wall, and D the top wall thereof,which latter is made flat and horizontal. Extending between and affixedto the side plates or walls of said chamber is a non-rotative shaft E,upon which are loosely mounted a plurality of printing-wheels F, hereinshown as six in number, and each freely rotative on said shaftindependently of the others. Said printing-wheels are provided on aportion of their peripheries with type characters f f. Said wheels aremade ofsuflicient diameter relatively to the-chamber.in which they arelocated-to extend slightly above the level of the top plate D of thechamber, the said top plate D being provided with a transverse slot (Z(shown best in Figs. 2 and 4-) to permit the types at the tops of thedisks to project 'therethrough in proper register to constitutetheprinting-line. Between one of the wheels F and the side plates B islocated a spacingwasherf, which separates s'aid disk or wheel from saidside plate and minimizes the friction between the moving disk andstationary plate.

Each of the disks/F is provided on its side face with a rigidly-securedconcentric pinion 7, said pinions rotating with their respective' disksfreely on the shaft E, and said pinions cooperate with suitablegear-levers by which The pinions f arev the disks are rotated. made thinand of small diameter and act as separators for the disks, and thelevers which cooperate with the pinions are also thin, being hereinshown as substantially the same thickness as the pinions, or perhapsslightly The form of lever herein shown is designated as a whole by thereference-letter G, and are each made from a fiat shcet-metal plate, andcomprises a generally triangular body the smaller end of which isloosely pivoted to a transverse shaft H, located atthe rear of thedisk-chamber. each provided with a narrower handle portion G whichextends through slots 0 in the curved front plate C-of the chamber. Saidhandle portions are provided at their forward ends with knobs g g, bywhich they may be readily engaged by the hand or finger of the Saidlevers are.

peripheries of the disks, whereby when the vided with acentrally-attached stem J,

d l es"thereof with curved slots Gr concentric I 'with the axis of theshaft H, each i ade wide enough to receivethe adjacent gear-pinion 1characters with a plurality. of shallow V- operatorto swingthe same.Said levers are provided between the shaft H and the hanf of theassociated disk F. Each lever is provided at one of the margins of thecurved slot thereof with a curved rack or set of teeth 9, adapted tomesh with the associated pin- 5 ion f By reason of the fact that saidpinionsf are IIltlCiOllluCh smaller than the disks F a sufficient extentof rotation of the disks to bring any one of the type characters thereof(which occupy about one-half of the periphery of each disk) to theprinting-line is alforded with a movement of the lever G, permittedwithin the, liirits imposed by reason of the construction of the device.v

The grooves of the front curved plate C of the -typedisk chamber areprovided with a plurality of notches '0, into which the handle G of thelevers springs to hold the levers stationary, and said front plate isalso provided with one or 1r ore scaiesjfindicated at 0 con:- posed ofcharacters identical with and arranged in the same manner as those onthe handle G of a leveris in line with either of said characters of thescale the same character of the disk operated by said lever is at theprinting-line at the top of the rrachine. Preferably a number of scaleswill be provided oh the front, wall of the machine equal to the numberof the slots 0,-so that there will be a scale adjacent to each slot.

In order-to hold the disks steady during the time an impression is beingtaken from the type in the printing-line, said disks are herein shown asprovided in the parts of their peripheries not occupied by the series ofshaped notches f", (shown best in Fig. 3,) which engagecorrespondinglyshaped teeth or projections i of leaf-springs I', thatare attached at their forward ends to a transverse rod I and preferablybear at their rear ends against the inner curved face of the back wallof the chamber. Said springs need not possess great strength, andtherefore do not tend to add appreciably to-the power required to rotatethe disks. So far as is concerned thecombination of the lovers G'withthe disks F, the printing device may embody one or more sets of suchmechanism, as desired.

Any suitable form of platen may be emloycd, which of course will be of alength at least as great as that of the slot a, at which i theprinting-line is set, up. The platenherein shown consists of a flathorizontal plate or bar J, located above the plate I), and is prowhichhas guiding engagement with thehead A and is provided at its top with adisk 7', which is adapted for contact with the eccentrichead a of aswinging lever A. Springs 2 c act to hold the platen in its uppermostposition, and the platen is'depressecl by means 'sion produced on the"check or the like, I have shown a suitable adjusting-screw L, that is Iinserted throughthe head A and engages at its innerend a suitable notcha in the eccentric head of the lever A, as shown best in Figs. 3 and 4.By turning said screw L in \vardly the depression of the platen islimited, and-therefore the impression on the check or docuntent at thesetup printing-line is less.

than when the swing of the lever A is greater, whichlatter may beaccomplished by turning the regulating-screw L outwardly.

A gage-bar M is employed to properly register the checks with theprintingdine. Said gage-bar is slotted and is attached to the top plateD of the printing-disk chamber by means of screws m, which extendthrough the longitudinal slots of the gage-bar and also throughtransverse slots (1 in the top wall or plate D, whereby thegage-bar maybe shift ed both forwardly and backwardl and also laterally with respectto the top p ate. 'lhe gage-bar is provided with end stopsM M,engagingthe end of the check or document to register the impression inproper longitudinal position on the check or the like.

In the operation of marking a check by the use of my improved marker thecheck is inserted between the printing-line formed by the characters atthe upper sides of the disk and ribbon, andthe platen is then depressed.The check or other document being interposed between the ribbon and thetypes, the

said types are not subjected to the corrosive action of the ink, norwill the ty es be filled by ink, such as would occur i the types werebrought into contact with said ribbon. The presence of the yieldingcushion K permits the types to pass upwardly into the check,'and therebyemboss the same. As a result the check or other document is embossedfrom beneath and the ink impression of the ribbon is applied on therelief-faces of said embossed characters,

I'claim as my invention I L-T he combination with a rotative diskprovided on itsperiphery with a series of. types, of a shaft on which itis rotatively mounted, a gearpinion fi-xed concentrically on the flatface of the disk, a lever ivoted at its rear end to a part stationarywit the shaft and provided between its ends with acurved slot withinwhich the said gear-pinion ex-v wal rality of slots, 5 P

vided .rear ends of the curved slot havin a '0 6.

on said shaft, eing provided on its periphery with a series of t pes,said frame being provided in its top,

with an opening through which the types of the disks project toconstitute the printing-line and in its front wall with a pluareciprocating platen for ressing the work against the types: pinionsaffixed concentrically to and rotative with said disks, leversinterposed between the type-disks and hinged to the frame and prowithcurved gears meshing with said pinions of the disks, and with handlesextending forwardly through said slots in the front wall of the chamber.

3. vA check-marking device embracing a frame provided with a chamber, ashaft extending therethrough, a plurality of characterdisks mounted sidel side and independently rotative on said shaft, each provided on itsperiphery with a series of types, said frame being provided openingthrough which the types of the disks project to constitute theprinting-line, and

in its front wall with a plurality of slots, pinions affixed concentricaly to. and rotative with said disks, levers located between saii disksand hingedat their rear enr frame of the machine, said levers beingprovided with handles which extend through said slots in the front wallof the frame, and between their ends with curved slots, the side marginsif which are formed to constitute gears which mesh with the pinions ofthe associated type disks.

4. A check-marking device embracing a frame provided with a chamber, ashaft extending there-across, a plurality of type-disks rotativelymounted and independently tive on said shaft, each provided on itsperiphery with a series of characfer-types, and on their sides withconcentric pinions, said frame being provided in its wall with anopening through which the types of the disks project to constitute theprinting-line, and in its front wall with a plurality of slots, leverslocated between said disks and hinged at their to the frame each d sk inits wall with an ls to the i and provided with l handles which extendforwardly through said slots in the fr their ends margins disks.

frame provi ed tending thereacross, a plurality v rotatively mounted andindependent tive on said shaft, eac

out Wall and provi with curved slots having formed 'to which mesh Withthe gear-pinions of 5. A check-marking ed between their side constitutecurve racks i the typedevice-embracing a haft ex of tvpedisks y rota- 6rovided on its periphery with a series of c aracter-types, sai framebeing provided in its wall with an opening through and provided be Vwhich the types ject to constitute the printing-line, front wall with aplurality o cated between said with handles which extend of the diskspro and in its slots, levers'lm disksan hinged at their. provided attheir for said the front wall, tween their ends with curve frame andslots on one margin of which are formed curvedracks which mesh thetype-disks, said disks being the parts of their margins not with thegear-pmions 0 provided on occupied by the type-spaces with V-shapednotches, and a plurality of spr vided with projections said notches.

6. A. checkniarking frame provided tending thereacross, rotativelyinounte tive'on the shaft, said with concentric gear-wheels which turnthere- 90, with and interposed vers interposed oted at their r'ear enings'one for each disk proadapted to engage device with a chamber, ashaft extypedisks a plurality of and independently rotadisks beingprovided between the disks, lebetween the disks ande-pivds to the frame,sai evers beingr provi ed with curved slots into which said pinionsextend, and provided with curved gear-teeth which mesh ions, said leverw ardly through slots in the front wall of the casing with scales.

In testimony my invention a of Witnesses:

WiLLiAM (iEQltG a extending two witnesses,

with the pins being provided with for handles which exten the front wallof the casing,

being provi ed that I claim the foregoing as [fix my signature, inpresence this 0th dayof August, A.

LOUIS SMITH.

ll. lfALL, ltm'iiosn WILKINS.

comprising a 5 i

